Address plate



Oc't. 14, 1941.

ADDRES S PLAT E Filed Nov. 6, 1940 INVENTOR,

E. F. RICHTR 2,258,624

Patented ct. 14, 94

Elmer F. Richten, Voieveiami Heights.. omo. r as; l signor to Addressograph-Multigraph Qorporation,Clevela-nd,.0hio, a corporation of Ohio pplfieatibn-Ntvemer 6, 194e; seriali-N01. .3&45232 @claimsv (-01. 101e-369)l This inventi'onrelates to4` an address'plate comprising a fram'eicarrying an embossed printing plate and also' preferably" an indexcard. The plate and cardwhile held in placel inl use" are readily removable to allow substitutionl whenever the legends they carry-for' instance; a name and address-are to be changed;

A general object of thej invention is" to pro` vide a frame which may be very-A cheaply constructed and which, while being light in' weight, is of sufficient rigidity and'strengthtoprevent dis tortion in theuse; y

More particularly, my address'v plate is` concernecl"` with the`frame especially useful in machines where the' address plate travels lengthwise thereof, either'i'n coming from its magazine to printing position' or passing from one printing position to anotherv for successive imprints or into the receivingmagazine at th'een'd of the operaition.

Address plates are usually of oblong form, the printing plat'e and card each having a length several times the width; Heretofore, it being customary to form' transverse guiding ribs on" the under-sidel of the plate at its ends'.' Such ribs form very ecientfskidl .rails whentheplateis shifted transversely to the frame: but'haveto be dragged crosswise on th'e support when the' plate is shiftedlengthwise; As the lengthwise shifting is of much greater eXtent injnianym'achinesthan the crosswise movement; I have devised a frame which has ribs running lengthwise thereof forni'- ing more eiiicientV skid railsforthe greater portion of the travel.

In mypinvention I form the guiding'ribs along the longitudinal edges of the plate',v which may be conveniently referred to as its top andbottom, hsince that is the position the plate occupies in the Vstorage, drawer. Heretofore, it has been custernary to curl over aboveY the frontof the plate the upper and lower edges'to provide holding devices for the top edge ofthe card and the bot#- tom edge of the printing plate.' In my invention Iibendthe top and bottom edges onto the rear of the plate to form the reinforcing and guidingrib's and I'provide upset lips facing toward an intermediate yregion of the frame to engage the lower edge of the printing plate and the upper edge of the index card. Such lips are cut out of the materialof the frame but by reason of the reinforcing action of the adjacent guiding ribs. do not:` interfere with the stiffness of 'the frame.

At its ends I turn over the extreme end portion of the material to form a hem or snug reinforce, which while sulilcient to stiien the plate at the ends dioes not* projectto the' extent of the longitudinal ribs and'L hence? ne'matter inter'- feresl with the free longitudinal slidingof the frame in user Y My improved* invention isillustrated inf the drawing hereoff and* i`shereinafter more' fully described and-itsfessential novei-featurs-larefsu-mmarized in'- the claims.

In the draw-ing;v Fig'.A 1 is= a' f'rtmt view off my address plate,` witl'i the" printing plate and the index card partly broken away; Fig; 2V isan edge viewof thel frame; Fig. ifs'a backi View' oi the frame; Fig. 4: is a cross section ori-double scale of theaddressplate,` aslindicatedby theline 4lli-I on Fig; 1`; Fig. fisafragmentary sectionalso` on double-scale through a'nend portiori'-ofVv the frame and printingplate, asindicated;v by the line` 5-l-5 onFig; 1`; andLFig; 6 is aA perspective cfa portion of the frame, adjacent a lower corner;

In the' drawing, I0 indicates tlie` frame-,Y 20 the printing platev and` 30 the* indexca`1-"d.`,` these three members` together being: conveniently de'- nominatedA an addr-ess platef" The frame isfmadel of" a single sheet of thin compartively light" metal. Its upper and"lv lower edges are bent towardthe Vrear andthence backwardly over the panel-'portionV ofthe plate` for a short` distance; thence outwardly ina` trough-like form`v andnally terminates'in a' shortv ilanged portion engaging, the back ofthe panel portion, an indicated at |11 in Figs; 2; 3, arandffs The hollow ribsV II'- terminate short ofi the ends of the' face panel a short distance, as shown in Fig. 3. The ends of lthe panel are fiangedfover onto' the backsidethereof by ahemor ti'glit bend which iitsA against the-back of the plate;` asV indicated at I2'v in Figs. 3, 5 and': Thisreinfo'rcing hem extends for the full width oftheplateacross the ends of the ribs II", substantiallyerigaging with suchende', as shownA in Figi 3l The printing plate 20; whichA in use is` provided withernbossed printing'charaeters 2`I (Figs. 1' and.4),.is' mounted on'tlie'v front face of'V the frame IIJ being slid lengthwiseinto place'beneath upwardly overhanging lips I4 near thelcwer edge ofthe frame andv downwardly overhanging intermediately located` lips'E I5. The index card' 30 is held'a't its upper edgebeneath downwardly overhanging lips I6 and atits lower edge beneath upwardly'overhangingilips' ITi All-oi.DL these lips are cut from' the bodyoftheframe and" pressed first forwardlyand'tl'ien parallelwithtlie front of the frame to overhang" the plate* or` card" as the case may be, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The lips I4 and I6 may very conveniently be of considerable length, as illustrated, to hold the plate and card snugly against the frame substantially throughout the length and not allow the possibility of either the plate or card being bowed outwardly between lips sufliciently to permit anything to get behind such plate or card. These comparatively long cut-outs to make these lips might weaken the plate sufficiently so that it would` be bent in use adjacent the edge were it not for the reinforcing ribs II extending along such edges.

I also prefer to make the intermediately located lips I5, which engage the printing plate, of considerable length. However, as to the card, it is not so important to have long lips at the lower edge of the card, as there is' less ldanger of any- Y thing being inadvertently tucked in behind the card in that region. Accordingly, in this instance I prefer to use short lips I'I so as not to materially weaken the frame in the intermediate region. I provide also a stamp-ed upwcornerpocket I8 to engage one corner of the card and a stamped up abutment I9 to engage `the-opposite end. The card, which is ordinarily of paper, isput into place beneath the various lips by bowing it slightly and then flattening it. v u

The printing plate, which is retained at. its edges by the lips I4 and I5, -isV retained"V at: one or both ends by springs tongues 40 which are cut out of the material of the frame and have suitable abutmentsto engage the printing plate. Preferably, these tongues have raised platform portions 4I connected with the tongue proper by simple brace 42 and by edge braces 43 Fig. 6) after the manner of Patent No. 2,030,865 of Wk. T. Gollwitzer. The spring tongues 4i] are normally in the plane of the frame panel ill and the intermediate connections 42 occupy notches 22 in the plate. Y v m To remove the plate, the operator engages the platform 4I with his thumb or finger and presses it down level with the face of the panel, and then slides the plate out over the depressed platform. In mounting the plate on the frame, the edge of the plate is placed over the platform and manual pressure against the ,plate depresses the platform so that the plate may slide into place beneath the lips I4 and I5, after which the tongue III) springs back into place bringing the platform opposite the end of the plate with CII estaca;

of the frame. This makes a cheaper operation than where the ribs are on one side and the edges are curled over onto the other face in a position spaced from the panel to act as retainers for the printing plate and card, as formerly. The longitudinal ribs at the top and bottom and the transverse bends at the edges reinforce the plate so that it will not be bent out of its plane during using. By making the ribs longitudinal, I utilize such ribs for the double ypurpose of providing elTective skid rails for longitudinal movement of the plate, and for stifening the plate adjacent the comparatively long cut out portions which provide the retaining lips.

I claim:

1. An address plate comprising an oblong frame having ribs on its rear face adjacent the top and bottom edges, said ribs being formed by bending over the edge portion of the front panel of the frame to provide hollow trough-like portions at the rear, and overhanging lips cut out from the panel of the plate adjacent the ribs, Aand a printing plate and an index card mounted on the frame and over-lapped by such lips respectively.

- gins bent over onto the back face in trough-like the abrupt shoulder of the platform engaging the end of the plateon opposite sides of its'notch, while the central brace 42 occupies the notch of the plate.

By providing the spring l platform as described, at each end of the frame, as illustrated in Figs. l and 3, I can shove the plateinto place from either end of the frameor remove it from either end as may be most convenient. If it is desired, however, the spring tongue need be provided only at one end, for instance, the right hand end of the plate and a fixed abutment used at the'other end, as illus'- trated for instance in Patent No. 2,115,444 of W. T. Gollwitzer- It will be seen from the drawing and the description given that my frame'is well adapted for carrying the printing plate and index cardeffectively holding them in place in use'while allowing their ready removal whenever desired.

It will also be noticed that the flanging of the longitudinal ribs II ,and the transverse bends I2 are all in the same directiononto the rear side tongues with a raised form to provide hollow longitudinal ribs, there being incisions in the plate extending longitudinally adjacent the ribs and lips caused by said incisions and comprising portions of the plate which are bent upwardly and then substantially parallel with the plate in the direction away from the ribs, said lipsaccordingly overhanging the intermediate portion of the plate.

3. A frame for an address plate comprising a.

" 'substantially flat panel of oblong form having its top and bottom margins bent over onto the rear side of the panel to form longitudinal ribs, the ends of the panel being bent over onto the'rear side to formv reinforces, and raised lips cut out of the panel and overhanging the face thereof.

4. A frame for an address plate comprising a substantially at panel of metal of oblong form having its top and bottom margins bent over onto the rear side of the panel into the form of hollow longitudinal ribs, the ends of the panel being .bent over onto the rear side in the form of snug hems, and raised lips cut out of `the panel adjacent the ribs and overhanging the face of the panel.

5. A frame for an address plate comprising a panel of sheet metalv of oblong form with the upper and lower margins of the pan-el being bent over onto the back face of the panel to provide hollow longitudinal ribs and the end portions of the panel bent over onto the rear face to provide reinforces, there being lips cut out from the metal of the panel by incisions adjacent the longitudinal ribs, said lips remaining attached to the panel near the ribs and extending from the -plane of the panel end thence toward each other over the face of the panel, and two rows of intermediate lips cut out of the panel and facing in on theframe including a spring tongue to engage the endsof the printing plate.

` ELMER F. RICHTER. 

